This man talks on his cellular phone as he watches flood waters cover the Flat Bridge in the Bog Walk Gorge yesterday.(Photo: Michael Gordon)

TROPICAL Storm Isidore ground past Jamaica yesterday, pummelling the island with rain and high winds that caused severe flooding and downed trees and power lines in several parishes. No deaths or injuries were reported, but disaster relief officials said that at least 30 persons were in shelters, having been rescued from flooded homes in Spanish Town, St Catherine and Black River, St Elizabeth.

Last night, the storm was north-west of Jamaica, heading away from the island, just east of Grand Cayman and cruising towards the Gulf of Mexico. Jamaican meteorological officials expected it to reach hurricane strength today.

Julian Manning of Scarlett Road, Spanish Town, appeals for help from her parliamentary representative.

Meantime, a new tropical storm, Josephine, formed in the Atlantic yesterday. At five o'clock in the afternoon it was located about 953 miles east-north-east of Bermuda. It was no threat to Jamaica.

Isidore, however, was making its presence felt in the northern Caribbean.

This young boy rests on a log at the blocked entrance of a canal along Old Harbour Road in the vicinity of Tawes Pen, Spanish Town. (Photos: Michael Gordon)

Up to yesterday afternoon, the storm was packing maximum sustained winds of approximately 60 miles an hour and tropical storm force winds extended up to 69 miles east of its centre, and were expected to continue to affect Jamaica into today.

"Isidore is forecast to continue moving to the north-west at (about nine miles an hour) and this motion is expected for the next 24 hours," the Meteorological Office said in a five o'clock forecast.

The system's clouds, rains and wind were expected to continue to engulf Jamaica, clearing only slowly today, meaning that Isidore would dump thousands of tonnes more water on an already saturated and flooded Jamaica.

Last night, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) reported flooding in Kingston and St Andrew, St Catherine, Clarendon, St Thomas, St Elizabeth and Westmoreland -- parishes that were hard-hit by unseasonal floods in May.

Officials said that 20 persons had to be moved from their homes in Black River. Ten were rescued from flooded homes in Spanish Town.

In fact, St Catherine appeared to be among the hardest hit by the flood rains, with several communities deep in water, a problem which the Central St Catherine parliamentary representative, Olivia "Babsy" Grange, blamed on the government's National Works Agency.

It had failed to clean drains and gullies and do other infrastructure work promised after the May floods, Grange said.

"I am blaming them for this," Grange said.

The ODPEM's St Catherine parish co-ordinator, Yvonne Mundell, told the Observer that a shelter was opened at the St Catherine Parish Council office in Spanish Town. Scores of persons were temporarily housed at the shelter, but most opted to return home or stay with relatives, Mundell said.

Elsewhere in St Catherine, the Rio Cobre overflowed its banks, the Flat Bridge was impassable and the water was last night still rising in the Bog Walk Gorge. Motorists were being advised to use alternative routes, as was the case with the Yallahs Fording in St Thomas.

In St Elizabeth, police said seven houses in the New Town Housing Scheme, in Black River, were flooded and families relocated. The Black River Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Black River Vocational Training Centre were also flooded.

In Westmoreland, strong winds brought down trees and power lines and water levels were high in the towns of Little London, as well as in Lucea, Hanover where the police station was among the buildings flooded.

In the Corporate Area of Kingston and St Andrew, many roads were under water and traffic slowed to a crawl in the capital. In New Haven district, for instance, residents along Emerson Drive had to endure waist-high water. All schools and a number of business places were forced to close because of the bad weather.

In South-West St Andrew, Marcus Garvey Drive and Majesty Pen also experienced flooding. A number of families were also affected. Member of Parliament Portia Simpson Miller, who toured the area, appealed for food and bedding for the dozens of affected families.

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World